With Season Three of True Blood scheduled to begin filming in early December, Alan Ball already has a clear picture of where the show is going. The viewers, on the other hand, are still reeling from the surprises of Sunday night’s finale, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’.”

Televisionary interviewed Alan to shed light on the events of Season Two, and to prepare us for what Season Three will bring.

In response to the thoughts of some that the Maryann storyline dragged on too long, or that the character was so magnified from what happened in the books, Alan said that he wanted to have an arc that would bring all the main characters together for one big fight at the end. Season Two was structured differently than Season One, in that there were separate storylines going on for the first half of the season, and then they began to combine. In particular, Alan mentioned how much he liked that Jason became part of the action in Dallas with Bill and Sookie, and then they came home together to face what had been going on with the people of Bon Temps. He says that in Season Three, he’s keeping things “a little more organic with the connection between the regulars.”

Among the most powerful moments of Season Two was the death of Godric. Alan talks about how moving that character was for him in the book. He even teared up a little bit when he saw the first cut of the episode “I Will Rise Up,” not only because of Godric, but also because of Jessica, and the scene with Sookie and Jason in the hotel where they talk about Gran. Casting Godric was an important decision, and it wasn’t easy to find the right person:

“It was difficult to find an actor who looked so young but who could convey centuries of feeling and to be tired of life and tired of being alive and ready to move on.”

Godric also served as a way to reveal another side of Eric, to not just have him be a badass who tears people’s limbs off, but someone who does have vulnerability.

When speaking about the future of Bill and Sookie, Alan was hesitant to spoil anything:

“I know exactly what’s going to happen in Season Three, because we’ve already started breaking the episodes and figuring the arc of the season. So I can’t really say without giving too much away what I think. But I’ll say this: the love between them is authentic and real, but that doesn’t mean that they will necessarily stay together. But it doesn’t mean that they won’t either, though.”

If the overarching theme of Season Two was the power of belief, in both positive and negative ways, then Season Three will thematically be about the search for identity. Sookie will not only be searching for Bill, but also for the truth about who and what she is. We will also meet Sam’s family.